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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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EULOaY 



ON THE 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



OF THE 



$i^ei).%ljcn(51Mii. 



BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF GEORGIA, 



♦t 



AND 



PRESIDENT OP THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 



BY 



HON. SOLOMON^'COHEN. 



"Written and Published at the Bequest 
OP THE 

GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



SAVANNAH: 

PUKSE & SON, PRINTERS, 

MDCCCLXVII. 



ETJLOaT 



ON THE 



LIFE AND C'lIAllACTER 



OF THE 



p. |lel); S>ttim (ffllioft, J. 



♦t 



BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF GEOFvGIA, 



AND 



PRESIDENT OF THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



BY 



HON. SOLOMON-COHEN 

II 



Written and Published at the Request 



OF THE 



GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ^ 

SAVANNAH: (^ 
P.UKSK & SON, PRINTERS, 
I^J 1^ MDCCCLXVII. 




^-^t^l^ 



EULOaY. 



One of the most distiuguished poets of England 
has said tliat '' tlie proper study of mankind was 
man," and I invite yon, m}^ friends, this evening, to 
the contemplation and study of the life, character, 
intellect, virtues, and high moral culture of one of 
the remarkable men of our day — the Eight Eeverend 
Stephen Elliott, D. D., and Bishop of the Diocese 
of Georgia. 

Deeply sensible of the distinguished honor con- 
ferred on me by the " Georgia Historical Society," in 
selecting me to write a "Eulogy on the Life and 
Character" of this distinguished Prelate, and pain- 
fully-impressed with the sense of my wa,nt of ability 
for the proper performance of a duty so important — 
a task so delicate ^I approach its discharge with fear 
and trembling, and humbly invoke the "Giver of 
every good and perfect gift," that He would fill my 
mind with high and holy thoughts, worthy of the 
tlieme, and give me utterance suitable to the occa- 
sion. 

Bishop Elliott was, indeed, a remarkable man*; 
possessing a very high order of intellect, richly en- 



■ , 



f 



4 EULOGY . 

dowed by study and travel ; a character chivalric, 
lofty and commanding ; a heart pure, kind and libe- 
ral, and adorned with that catholic charity, that ap- 
preciation and love of the good and beautiful, that 
high-toned morality, that trusting faith in God's 
word, that obedience to God's law, that earnest reli- 
gion that was ingrained in his very nature, that emi- 
nently fitted him for the exalted position to which, in 
the Providence of God, he had been called. 

There is an instinct in the human heart that 
prompts man to seek an honorable fame, and to ren- 
der himself useful in his day and generation, and it 
is the peculiar mission of associations like those of 
the Georgia Historical Society, to perpetuate the 
memory of the good and great, not only as acts of 
justice to them, but as incentives to those who may 
fill their places when they have gone to their reward. 
The acts, the opinions, the example, of the great and 
good are heir-looms to posterity, and should be treas- 
m-ed as sacred relics, and with the same reverence 
that the saint turns to his shrine, so should we regard 
and venerate those men w^ho, in life, illustrated virtue, 
have blessed their fellows, have adorned and beauti- 
fied the sphere, in which they moved, and been 
worthy stewards of the gifts committed to their keep- 
ing. In the contemplation of such a character, we 
should bring to bear, upon its merits, the best afiec- 
tions of our hearts, and the highest gifts of our intel- 
lects. Man, w^hom God created in His own image — 
endowed him with a spark of His own omniscience. 



EULOGY. 5 

and made liim but little lower than the angels — must 
be regarded as God's vice-gerent on earth. He is the 
steward of God, who has committed to his care and 
guardianship inestimable treasures, more valuable 
than precious jewels and much line gold — the price- 
less treasures of an intellect that places him high 
above all God's earthlj creations — an immortal soul, 
which is God's likeness in man, and which may ele- 
vate him in eleruitv to the heaven of heavens, to 
d\yell with His celestial angels, and bask forever in 
the sunshine Of His eternal glory. Such is man — 
such his duties — such his responsibilities, and happy 
is that man who, like our departed friend, has acted 
well his part — has been the faithful steward. 

The life of man is like a passing cloud, or in the 
beautiful language of the Psalmist, it is like grass, 
" in the morning it iiourisheth and groweth up ; in 
ilie evening it is cut down and withereth," and though 
we shall see the departed no more on earth, yet we 
have the blessed assurance that the illustrious subject 
of our discourse did, by the purity and beauty of his 
life, by trustful faith in, and obedience to, a God of 
love, prepare himself for the great change from Time 
to Eternity — from action to reward — for whilst uu 
earth lie did "justly, loved mercy, and walked 
humbly with his God." He performed, in the lan- 
c:ua2:e of Israel's illustrious kin<?, " the wliole dutv of 
man," "he feared God and kept His command- 
ments." 

Death is the heritage of man — it enters alike the 



6 EULOGY. 

palaces of the ricli and the hovels of the poor. It 
drags to the dark recesses of the tomb, the helpless 
infant, and man in tlie full strength and pride of his 
manhood, the delicate maiden, and the hoavy head of 
age, and yet we thinlv ^' all men mortal, but our- 
selves." The daily warnings, that meet us at every 
step we take in the pathway of life, have no influence 
on us, and even the fearfully sudden death of such a 
man as Bishop Elliott has but a temporary efiect 
upon us, like an evanescent summer cloud, that ob- 
scures for an instant the brio^htness of the mid-dav 
sun. It is not my province, nor is this the occasion 
to elaborate this idea, and press its importance on 
those who now hear me. But God grant that this 
fearful visitation, that in an instant, in the twinklinc: 
of an eye, has taken from this Diocese its venerated 
Bishop — from the Church its beloved Pastor — fro-m 
his family, its father, friend and counsellor — from this 
community, the bright examplar of a pure, active 
and blameless lifj — from our Society, its respected 
President, and the zealous co-operator in all things 
tending to its honor and usefulness ; God grant, I say, 
that this fearfully sudden death may not be lost to 
our eternal welfare, but may teach us, like him,, " to 
do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our 
God" — that we, like him we mourn, may be })repared 
for that awful passaiije from the beautv and briiijhtncss 
of this world to the gloomy portals of tlie grave — 
from trial to judgment — from Time to Kternity. It 
is no solecisim therefore, to say, that we Hi'^g in the 



HULor; Y . 7 

midst of Death. It Is seen, and felt, in all things, 
animate and inanimate — in the worh's of xsatui'C and 
of Art. Death i^ a resistless power, whose /^/?5 noth- 
ing can oppose ; a monarch, wliose swaj is bounded 
only by that bonrne which separates Time from Eter- 
nity — Death from Life. I repeat, then, \\q live in 
the land of the dying, and well may the weary pil- 
grim to that region, where there is neither death nor 
change, exclaim with the inspired Psalmist of Israel, 
"I \\2L^ fainted^ unless I had believed to see the good- 
ness of the Lord in the land of the living.'' — Psalm 
xxvii. 13. 

It has been beautifiill}' said, that history is '"plii- 
losophy teaching by example,'' but how much more 
appropriately may this remark be applied to biogra- 
phy, or rather 'to the lives and examj^le of men, like 
Bishop Elliott, who adorned and beautified every 
pathway of life in which he walked, and was a living, 
practical, perpetual exhortation to deeds of goodness, 
virtue and religion. History deals in generalities — it 
sets forth great results, public events, and national 
transactions, on which the destiny of Peoples may 
turn and be determined — tells of the wrecks and tri- 
umphs of Nations and of Races, but gives none of the 
details^ nothing of that inner life of the great actors 
who produced these results. On the contrary, biog- 
raphy enters, with minuteness, into the private 
thoughts of individuals, tlieir manners, customs, 
habits and tempers, and it is these that create, form 
and direct the opinions and actions of the masses. 



8 EULOGY . 

Who that ever watched the life and acts of Bishop 
Elliott ; the results of his persevering zeal and 
energy in all works for the amelioration and improve- 
ment of man ; who heard his converse, who listened 
to his persuasive oratory, and drank from the exhaust- 
less springs of his intellect, ever gushing forth with 
rich streams, fructifying the heart, the mind, the soul, 
and elevating it to its eternal source, the goodness, the 
w^isdom, the power of God ; who, I say, that has ever 
basked in the sunlight of his intellect and virtue, that 
has not felt their ennobling influences, and the purify- 
ing results of his unobtrusive piety, and his trustful 
faith in the God he served? 

Such men, then, as the illustrious Prelate we this 
day mourn, and are assembled to honor, arc beacon- 
lights amid the shoals and rocks of life — they are a 
" pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night," to lead 
the Israel of G^odi^ of every faith^ io the footstool of 
His throne ; and, it really seems, w^hen such as these 
are snatched from us, in the palmy da^^s of their use- 
fulness, that they have been but lent to us, by God, 
to teach us of the beauty and excellence of heaven. 
The study of the characters of the good, and useful, 
of such men as Bishop Elliott ; the examination of 
their trains of thought, as developed in life ; the 
recollection of their utterances, their earnest zeal in 
everything calculated for the temporal and eternal 
good of their race, cannot fail to improve the heads 
and the hearts of those who may come after them. 

The Eight Reverend Stephen Elliott, Bishop of 



EULOGY. 



9 



this Diocese, was tlie eldest son of Stephen Elliott, of 
South Carolina, and &ther Habersham, of Georgia, 
and was born in the town of Beaufort, South Caro- 
lina, on the 31st of August, 1806. The first six years 
of his life were passed in his native place, but at this 
juncture, the Legislature of the State of South Caro- 
lina established the '' Bank of the State of South 
Carolina" — a purely State institution, based on the 
stocks and other assets of the State. This Bank was 
created to afford relief to the planting interest, then 
suffering from the financial difficulties of the time, 
growing out of the war with England, and Mr. 
Elliott, the retired gentleman, the finished scholar, 
the erudite man, the lover of art, and science, and 
nature, was called from his retirement to preside over 
this important institution, and ho was re-elected its 
President, by each succeeding Legislature, during his 
whole life. This call involved his removal, Vv^ith his 
family, to the city of Charleston, and his young son 
was placed under the care and tutorship of Mr. Ilurl- 
butj then an eminent teacher in that city. I have 
been able to learn but little of the early youth of the 
Bishop. To his b-iographer this pleasing, and more 
minute task, will more properly belong, and I fondly 
hope that our Society will regard it as their peculiar 
duty to see that the record of his life shall be full and 
complete. Bishop Elliott was subsequently sent to 
Harvard, where he remained one year, and was then 
brought home, to graduate in his loved, native State. 
This love of his "own," his "native land," which 

B 



10 E U I;-0 G Y . 

prompted tliis action on the part of liis father, ever 
filled, the heart of the Bishop, animated his actions, 
controlled his opinions, and was part of his character. 
And, in the annual address of this Society, delivered 
by Bishop Elliott a few years after his removal to 
Georgia, his theme was the cultivation of this home 
feeling, by every honorable appliance. And I well 
remember his earnest and eloquent exhortations to 
love the land of our birth and the home of our adop- 
tion — to cherish this feeling — to cultivate, build up, 
sustain and support home institutions, and how he 
likened Georgia to the Holy Land of Canaan, "a 
land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that 
spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of wheat and 
barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates ; a 
land of olive oil and honey." — Deut. viii. 7, 8. 

Graduating with honor, he began the study of the 
law with the gifted Petigru, whose bright intellect, 
pure heart, genial nature, and unostentatious charity 
won the love of all who knew him^ The influences 
of such a parent, and such an instructor, could not 
fail to make deep and lasting impressions upon a 
mind and heart like those of Bishop Elliott. He 
practiced law but a short time — long enough, how- 
ever, to show that he would have occupied the 
highest rank in that noble, and time-honored, profes- 
sion, and long enough, too, to chasten his mind by 
the severe technicalities and accurate and fine-drawn 
distinctions of the law. He drank deep of the pure 
fountains that flowed from the mind of a Coke, a 



EULOGY. 11 

Blackstone, a Mansfield and a Marshall, and in after 
years, scattered, in that higher and holier field, for 
which heaven seemed to have destined him, the rich 
treasures of an intellect thus chastened, purified and 
enlightened. He soon, however, abandoned the Law 
for the Church, and sacrificed, to a sense of duty, all 
the allurements and fascinations of successful politi- 
cal and professional life. He became the humble 
and unambitious Teacher of Religion, to which he 
brought the purity of his spotless heart, and all the 
endowments of his high intellect, and its rich and 
careful culture. But a short time in his new career 
had elapsed, when he was called to the Professorship 
of Sacred Literature, and the Evidences of Christi- 
anity, in the South Carolina College. Prior to this, 
however, he had still further elevated and adorned 
his powerful mind in the field of critical literature, a§ 
a co-editor of the Southern Review^ with that gifted 
scholar and eloquent orator, the late Hugh S. Legare. 
But higher duties, more serious and arduous labors, 
were yet to be assigned to the wonderful man, of 
whom we now speak. In 1840 he was elected the 
first Episcopal Bishop of Georgia, the native State of 
his mother; and in January, 1841, he was consecrated 
to that high, holy and responsible office. It is not 
within the scope of an address like this to follow him 
in his career in the new position to which he had 
been called. Suffice it to say, that in this,' as* in 
every other walk of life he had trod, he brought into 
successful exertion the best afi'ections of his pure 



12 



EULOGY 



heart, and all the priceless treasures of his rich and 
cultivated intellect. Under his administration his 
church bloomed and blossomed like the green olive 
tree, and spread its branches through the length and 
l)readth of the State. In the midst of this usefulness, 
when his good deeds and his labors were heavy with 
ripening fruit, and promised, to him, an abundant 
harvest, he was, on the 21st December, 1866, called 
hence to meet his God. 

From this hasty and concise sketch, it will be seen 
that when this great man was called from his labors 
on earth, he had not yet reached '' the days of the 
3^ears" of man. His noble form — the fit receptacle of 
his pure feoul, and polished intellect— seemed to prom- 
ise a long life of physical vigor and moral usefulness. 
B^t death ever loves a shining mark, and heaven 
claimed him for its own. Aiiil yc,t his could scarcely 
be called Death. It was a translation from Earth to 
Heaven; from Time, to Eternity. The portals of the 
mansions of the blessed were opened, and no linger- 
ing sickness, nor torturing pain, stayed his transit to 
the realms of eternal bliss. 

" And Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him." — 

Genesis v. 24. 

Bishop Elliott was ever anxious for the welfare, 
the improvement, the moral culture of his kind, and 
particularly of his well-beloved South — a land which 
he loved /with all the energy of his mind, and the 
purity of diis heart. It had his best affections, and 
his ever watchful care for its welfare. He had not 



EULOGY 



13 



long been a resident of Georgia, when, with that far- 
seeing wisdom, which was a prominent characteristic 
of his exalted intellect, he determined to establish a 
school in middle Georgia, for the training and educa- 
tion of the girls of the State. He well knew, and 
justly appreciated the powerful influence of w^oman 
in all things tending to man's present and future wel- 
fare and happiness, and he w^atched and guarded the 
infant institution with the care and tenderness of a 
mother. The education of woman — the formation of 
their characters — the purifying of their hearts, and 
the enlightening of their minds, so as to fit them for 
the high and holy duties of their station, is the great- 
est boon that can be conferred on any people. It is 
in the hands of woman that man's destiny rests. As 
the mother of our children, their friend and instruc- 
tor, she may be regarded as the disseminator of that 
intellectual morality and political civilization which 
are the corner-stones on which rest the grandeur, the 
power, the prosperity and true glory of mankind. 
The education of woman is a necessary element of an 
advancing civilization, and if we desire that society 
should be refined, enlightened, and moral ; that it 
should contain the seeds of a progressive civilization, 
we must look for these results to the thorough educa- 
tion of woman. Bishop Elliott saw and felt all this, 
and in the true spirit of a patriot and a man of God, 
he put his hand to the work with the energy of his 
noble mind, and the warm affections of his pure 
heart. In this same spirit he, in conjunction w^ith his 



14 EULOGY. 

dearly clierished friend, the late Bishop Polk, of 
Louisiana, and other Prelates of his Church, planned, 
and hut for the cruel war waged against the South, 
would have carried out, that grand and noble institu- 
tion, "The University of the South." With untiring 
zeal, and wxll-directed energy, these two noble men 
laid the broad foundation of that moral and intellec- 
tual w^ork which will yet spring into life, activity and 
usefulness — a splendid monument of the far-seeing 
intellect and pious enthusiasm of these truly Southern 
men, and watchful guardians of Southern welfare. 
No, the " University of the South" must not die. It 
must rise and live, as enduring as the eternal hills, 
and from its halls it shall send forth fertilising 
streams of literary and moral culture. Her Alumni 
shall yet fill every walk of life, blessing and blest, 
and an eternal halo shall rest upon the names of El- 
liott and Polk. How touchingly beautiful was the 
love of these two illustrious men — their souls- were 
knit together. There was between them a unity of 
thought, of feeling, of action, all beautiful, all pure. 
Like unto Saul and Jonathan, they were lovely and 
pleasant in their lives, and even death could not sepa- 
rate them. Men and women of the South, weep over 
the graves of these faithful guardians of your most 
precious treasures, and teach your children's children 
to rise up and "call them blessed." 

Bishop Elliott was eminently endowed with all the 
physical and moral attributes of an orator. A tall, 
commanding and majestic figure — the very iniper- 



EULOGY. 15 

sonation of the Priests and Propliets of the past — a 
mild, impressive and graceful delivery ; a clear, 
solemn and finely modulated voice ; a gentleness, yet 
appropriateness of action, that beautifully accorded 
with his benignant expression of countenance, and 
the sacred calling to which all his powers were de- 
voted. He possessed also the rare gifts of deep 
thought — exhaustless treasures of available learning — 
the power of giving utterance to his thoughts in a 
purity of language, a cogency of reason, a beautiful 
order, and classical arrangement of the prominent 
points in his discourses, and al) of these w^ere adorned 
by a matchless flow of oratory, and a dignity of 
action that marked him as the child of genius, elo- 
quence and learning. In his sermons there was no 
rant, no denunciation. There was one continued 
stream of mild, persuasive eloquence, close reason- 
ing, and beautiful and heart-touching displays of the 
excellence of virtue, and the necessity and priceless 
value of religion. He had a clear judgment, a pure 
heart, and that tact, or knowledge of human nature, 
and the motives of human action, that enabled him 
to carry conviction to the heads and hearts of his 
hearers. His language was peculiarly choice, drawn 
from the well of pure " English undefiled" ; and his 
mode of stating his points and arranging the argu- 
ments in their support, were stamped with that 
order, system, and clear, legal technicality, with 
which his mind had been tutored when, in the 
threshold of life, he had stored it with the rich treas- 



16 



EULOGY 



ures of legal lore. So, too, had he drawn deeply 
from other sources, whence the human mind i^urtures 
and adorns the immortal spark with which God has 
blessed mankind. He was a fine classical scholar, 
and thus the mental treasures, and sparkling wit of 
Greece and Rome, were his also. His intellect had 
been chastened, purified and exalted, when engaged 
in the pursuit and study, and in the exercise of clas- 
sical criticism. Indeed, he drank in knowledge from 
almost every fountain, and was ever ready to scatter 
and disseminate the priceless treasures of his intellect 
for the good and improvement of his fellow-creatures. 
He was indeed a rare combination of mental and 
physical strength, powder and grandeur. Tall, well- 
proportioned, and with a native majesty and dignity 
that ever commanded respect, and yet a gentleness 
and amenity of manner that won our love. There 
was no assumption about him, no pedantry of manner 
or of words. All was simple, grand, majestic; and 
yet he was ever ready to pour out, to all inquirers, 
the information he had garnered from every field of 
science and literature. He had a fund of knowledge 
on every subject, and he was lavish in its distribu- 
tion. The true character and intrinsic w^orth of a 
man's mind and heart are, unquestionably, more fully 
developed in the unrestrained, and familiar inter- 
course of social life, than from any evidence exhib- 
ited in the discharge of the higher and more solemn 
duties of man's career. In the former all restraint is 
thrown aside, and the innate man is displayed in all 



EULOGY 



17 



its truthfulness, simplicity and purity. It was in this 
unrestrained interconrse that the character, and heart, 
and mind of Bishop Elliott shone forth in all the 
mild excellence of his gentle nature. Here, too, with 
unaffected ease, and the simplicity of true genius, he 
lavishly distributed the rich gems of his highly cul- 
tivated intellect. There was no dictation, no affec- 
tation, no vain exhibition of display , all was plain, 
and simple, but full of knowledge and instruction. 
All of us, of this Society, must remember, with ten- 
der feelings of love and gratitude, those delightful 
meetings under his Presidency, when his suggestive 
mind was ever throwing out hints for improving our 
usefulness, and disseminating the lights of science 
and literature. 

And now all this worth, this excellence, this purity, 
this knowledge, this exalted piety, lies in the dark 
and silent tomb, and we are left to mourn. His im- 
mortal spirit has gone to the God who gave it, but 
his good deeds live after him, and to us they are a 
rich legacy, a priceless treasure, that we should guard 
with holy zeal ; a shining light, that should lead us 
onward in the paths of virtue, religion, science and 
literature ; paths of pleasantness and peace, in which 
he walked with piety and dignity, and scattered bless- 
ings as he went along. His example is the " silver 
lining" to that cloud which his death has cast over 
our hearts and homes. 

The whole South mourns him — the State weeps for 
him — his Church and Diocese cry aloud in anguish. 



^J-J. 



18 EULOGY . 

and his loved and clierished Jamily '' sit solitary" — 
their harp hangs upon the willow, for their home is 
desolate — their "silver cord is loosed," their "golden 
bowl is broken." 

But I repeat, his example is left to us, and whilst 
we mourn we must cherish the memory of his worth, 
and strive to emulate it. We must bow, with sub- 
mission, to God's will, and from the depths of our 
stricken hearts, in the spirit, and trusting faith that 
animated his life, exclaim. Thy will be done. 



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